


Green Machine

by Holmgren13



Series: Beast Boy [4]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:33:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27664084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holmgren13/pseuds/Holmgren13
Summary: Beast Boy and Cyborg, the best bromance in the DCU. But Gar tends to sleep with the people he loves, and he loves all of his friends. So why is Cyborg any different?A little drama, a little love feels, a little more to come~
Relationships: Beast Boy/Cyborg, Garfield Logan/Victor Stone
Series: Beast Boy [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1494131
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

People seem to always ask super heroes about the missions. How do they feel before and after, have they considered all of the outcomes if they failed, what if anything they would do differently, what’s the most difficult decision to make on the field, on and on and on. Most of these people don’t realize what boils down to a simple fact, which is that most super heroes, especially those on a team, spend more time off the field than on. By a lot. Sure you have some heroes who patrol the streets day and night, but they’re heavily in the minority. A professional hero fighting along side a team of peers is all about being vigilant. Being ready to fight off a villain, ready to solve a crime, and ready to defend the people under your charge at a moment’s notice. That means being well rested on top of being well trained, and THAT means there’s a lot of downtime. 

Now take a look at the individual hero’s job compared to their abilities and powers, and you’ll start to get a feel for how much of their downtime needs be be spent in training. Robin, for example, doesn’t have lasers to shoot out of his eyes or the ability to bench press a pickup truck. On top of that, he’s expected to lead as much as he is expected to fight. This means a lot of his downtime has to be set aside for strength training, combat lessons, extra studies, and even reporting in to those higher up in command. Starfire, on the other hand, is an alien princess who can fly and shoot bolts of energy from her fists and learn languages by making out with someone. She doesn’t need to spend nearly as much time bench pressing when she can already punch through a building, so she has more free time to take care of her pet alien slug and making cupcakes or whatever it is she likes to do. 

Gar can turn into any animal on a whim, and Cyborg is the most powerful computer in the world as well as a living weapon of mass awesomeness. While Gar has taken some extra training from Tim as a way to keep a nice tight bod, they both still have plenty of time to hang around base and work on their team work skills. In this case they were working hard developing their supportive communication skills, general hand eye coordination, effective use of limited resources...

“Dude! Left!” Cyborg was on the edge of the sofa, metallic fists beating on his legs in anticipation. “The shortcut, B!” 

“Gah! I would, but I don’t have any power flowers! I’ll never make the jump!” Garfield was on his feet, his game controller flying from side to side and even over his head as he fought for control of the little go cart on the Titan Tower’s main TV. The two have been trying to beat this particular track on maximum difficulty for nearly an hour, and Gar was getting as close as they had gotten yet. They were fully dressed for this sort of important work, wearing nearly matching white sleeveless undershirts with Gar’s cut above the belly button, Cy’s sport striped sweatpants and brown leather sandals velcroed to his mechanical feet, Gar in simple white briefs and barefoot as normal. Everyone in the tower knew Gar would go straight up nude if he thought people would be okay with it, but it had been generally agreed that as an unspoken rule he at least needed to cover his junk in the common areas. 

Cyborg was scooting further up on the sofa, only an inch of his butt still even touching down. “There’s a weapons cache! You can still pull ahead if you get any speed boosts!” 

“Yeah man! I got it I got it... fry me!” Without taking his eyes off of the screen and without pausing, as this was against the rules that the boys had made up for Pass-the-controller single-player racing, Gar opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out to the side. 

“Comin’ up bro!” As excited as he was for the race, Cyborg tore himself away form the screen to reach forward to the table, picking up a large potato wedge, giving it a few drops of hot sauce, and then carefully bringing it over to Gar’s mouth. “Fry up!”

With practiced efficiency Gar leaned over and felt the crispy fried exterior of his snack with his tongue before taking it between his teeth and pulling it away, focused on the game as he pulled the rest bite by bite into his mouth. He didn’t even need to ask before Cyborg was holding up his grape soda, aiming the straw for Gar to easily find. He took a large swig and then leaned back. “Ahh, fueled up!”

“And on the final lap. B, you’re in the lead... You got a power flower, use it on the short cut!

“I got it, coming up now...Yes yes yesyesyye- NO!!” Gar watched as the screen flashed for a moment, and his car shrank down to half its size as he hit the shot cut ramp, sending his little car careening down the endless pit. “Who got a tiny hammer on the last lap!? No no no no!” 

“Gaaaaah... It was Baby Bud, in last place. But Boy Blossom wasn’t effected... looks like he took the shortcut.” The whistle of someone running through the finish line sounded, and before Beast Boy’s car finished the race he had already fallen back over the sofa in defeat. “Ouch... sorry man. That was closer than we’d gotten yet!” 

“BlaaaaAAAARG!” Gar kicked his legs in a playful tantrum. “Dammit... SO uncool.” 

“My turn?”

Gar held up the controller in defeat. “Your turn. Give them hell, Robo-buddy.” 

Cyborg grabbed the controller and grinned, hitting ‘restart race’ as he lowered his internal reaction speeds to normal human levels and disengaged his personal systems from the remote connection in order to keep the competition fare. “I will avenge you, little guy.” 

Gar made a mental note that if they hadn’t beat this track after another two tries he would offer to change games to something they can do multi player for a while. He was becoming exhausted with the racing tension. He gave himself a nice tall stretch, pushing himself back into the sofa before flopping his arms behind. He laid his head back with a sigh, opening his eyes as the elevator door opened behind them. 

Raven was one of those who did not have to train a lot, but she spent a lot of her free time meditating and studying. Even when she wasn’t busy most of her time was spent alone, either reading or listening to music. Despite her reclusive nature, Gar could never help but to feel his heartbeat quicken whenever she came into a room. As she walked towards the kitchen, Gar rolled over to the side, tucking his legs under him and peeking over the back of the sofa. 

Raven always dressed for comfort, hardly ever minding anyone else’s opinion, and that just made her even more attractive. Her perfect pale skin stood out in contrast against her dark clothes, today the short cutoff denim shorts with a rough studded black leather belt and a large black and purple sweater with nearly flopping arms and a sagging neck. She was probably curling up with a book in her room, only coming out for a drink or something. Gar could imagine her either with a throw covering her lap or even tucking her legs into her sweater when she got too cold, or pulling up the sleeves and pulling up her sweater if she was warm... He couldn’t help but sigh again. He couldn’t help the massive crush he’s always had.

“Hey yo, B.” Cy kept his eyes on the screen, his controller still as ice as he swerved through sharp corners launching Green Fruits behind him as the computer racer currently in second. “Fry me! ... ... B?” Cyborg risked a glance over and noticed his buddy dreamily watching as Raven slipped by towards the kitchen. Cyborg chuckled as he rolled his eye and went right back into gaming, knowing he wasn’t going to be getting through to his buddy until after he got the heart flutters out of his system. 

Garfield waited until Raven was in the kitchen before he shrank down into the form of a bobcat, bounding over the back of the sofa and turning into a humming bird mid pounce, zooming towards the kitchen. He found Raven reaching into the back of the fridge, and as he came for a landing on the kitchen island, he shifted into the form of a little green kangaroo mouse, hopping over near the cutting board where she had placed a plate. He waited for her to look back and place a box of berries down before giving a small squeak and a wave. 

“Hey Rea-Rea!” Catching Raven’s attention, Gar crossed his tiny little arms and leaned on the salt shaker, only realizing after the fact what a bad idea that was. The glass shaker slid across the marble counter, making the tiny mouse fall on his face before quickly scampering back to his feet, brushing off his shoulders before hopping off of the counter, shifting back to his human to land on his feet. “Hehe...Hi.” 

“Good evening, Beast Boy.” Raven’s eyes glanced down Gar’s body before blushing slightly and looking away. “Are you always so opposed to pants?”

“Huh?” Gar glanced down, still in his cut off undershirt and his briefs. With a light blush painting his cheeks as well, he slowly backed away and scooted off to the side behind the counter before leaning onto his elbows, now hiding his scantly clad nethers. “There. Better?”

Raven gave a very subtle eye roll, which was a step up from a glare, step down from a corner mouth smirk. “Better. So what’s up?” The jewel on Raven’s forehead gave a gentle pulsing glow as the blackberries she’d placed on the counter seemed to pull the light from around them, any sheen of purple sinking away into total darkness before a small handful floated up and to the plate, the rest flying back towards the fridge. Raven didn’t use her powers to do day to day things unless her focus was drawn elsewhere, which was flattering in its own way for Gar. 

“Oh nothin’ nothin’. Ya know, just killing time with Cy and stuff. But uh, hey, I see you’re here!” 

“Yes. I’m here.” Raven stated this as if stating the completely obvious. Garfield, like most everyone, had difficulty reading Raven’s expressions because of their subtlety. Of course she was well practiced in muting her emotions, and that made her soft spoken and solitary, but there were times Gar felt he could sense more than other people. Maybe it was his general heightened senses, but he liked to think he just understood her just a little bit more. 

“Hehe... yeah.” 

“...” 

“... O-oh, I mean, like, you know.... You’re not just in your room. You’re like, HERE. You know?”

“Beast Boy, you’re being strange again.” As they exchanged this admittedly awkward excuse for a conversation, Raven’s plate filled with other bites from the fridge. Small bites of cheese, crackers, apple slices, all floating one by one to the plate before the cupboards and refrigerator shut quietly. “I was planning on heading back to continue reading.” 

“Oh, sure, I thought maybe... but um, maybe WE could hang out a bit. You know, if you’re free. Since we both have time, I mean.” Gar was tripping over his own thoughts. This was not the first time he’d tried to spend more time with Raven, but every time he felt like he just ended pushing her further away, so he ended up getting more nervous, which just made it all worse. 

Raven sighed and picked up her plate, finally losing eye contact with Gar. “You know that the last time ended... poorly.”

“Well... I wouldn’t say POORLY.” Gar grinned, but noticed Raven’s frown and noticed her grip on the plate tighten slightly. “B-but I mean... Look, we don’t have to have THAT kinda hang out, you know? I just wanna be friendly.” Gar lowered his head and gave her some of the ol’ puppy eyes. “I’ll be a gentleman... promise.” 

Raven lifted her eyes again, but they were still cold. “You know that ‘friendly’ for you isn’t the same as others.”

“That’s not what I meant though...” It was Gar’s turn to lower his gaze, scratching behind his pointed ear. 

“But it’s true.” Raven set her plate down again and took a few steps towards Gar, reaching out to lift his chin. “What we did, Garfield...” Her voice was lowered, even from her usual soft stoic monotone. A touch of color had risen into her face, dusting her pale complication with soft pastel pink. “It was... very special to me.” 

Gar was blushing, remember the night they had... wow, only a few weeks ago. “M-me too...” 

“But it’s different for you, Garfield. You love everyone.” She tried not to sound jealous, either of his free emotions or the lack of specialty she felt she held in Gar’s eyes. 

“W-well... Yeah I mean... I love my friends, Rae-Rae. But that doesn’t mean that what I feel for you isn’t special. Y’know?” Gar bit his lip gingerly with his snaggletooth, and found himself pressing his face to Raven’s hand, nuzzling to her touch. 

Raven allowed the show of affection, carefully petting the boy’s face. “Love is very complicated Garfield. What I feel for you... It doesn’t work between us.” She could hardly explain to herself the pain she felt. The want for Gar’s care-free nature and the hurt that came what that same nature was shared so freely with others. “You are you because of how unique you are, but it’s those same qualities that make anything between us impossible. I thought I could handle it, but I was losing myself. I can’t risk that.” 

Gar’s ears were sagging, feeling like Raven was crushing his heart while stroking his cheek. “I mean... we could just... hang out?”

“Another time. When we’ve both calmed down.” Raven stroked Gar’s cheek with her thumb before removing her hand, feeling Gar try to lean and follow her touch before resting back on his heels. She took her plate and walked casually away back to the confines of her room. 

Gar stood in the kitchen for a few moments before giving a heavy sigh and dragging his feet back towards the living room, where Cyborg’s attention was still glued to the TV, his thumbs moving quickly over the controller. 

“Hey B.” Cyborg kept his focus forward as he kept his race going. “I was able to win at Beet Fleet Road, finally. I haven’t started the next track though, waiting for you to be here.” He paused the game and glanced over, noting the lack of enthusiastic response. “B?”

Gar looked pitiful. Bare feet dragging across the rug, slumped forward, ears drooped, eyes slightly red, lip quivering. Damn, there nothing sadder than a sad Beast Boy. The green changeling trudged to the sofa before fully flopping over the armrest, becoming all but a literal slug as he wiggled forward and then hugged his knees to his chest. “Sorry bro... I dont mean to bring the mood down, just... I just need a minute.... you can keep playing.” He sniffled, a distinct puppy like whimper escaping his throat. 

“Hey.” Cyborg placed his controller down beside him. He knew Gar almost better than anyone, and he knew that his friend wasn’t begging for attention on purpose. He glanced over to the kitchen and in an instant he rewound the security footage of the tower in his head and saw him and Raven. “You talked with Rae, huh? She still a little upset?” 

Gar nodded against the sofa. He clung to his knees harder, trying to swallow down the pain in his throat. He didn’t want to talk in fear of crying. 

“Is this a sad puppy Gar moment?” Despite the display in front of him, Cyborg grinned and leaned back in the sofa. He did not take his friend’s sadness lightly, but Gar was a very emotionally expressive individual, and Cyborg was probably one of the few that knew all about this situation. He knew Raven wouldn’t have said or done anything too permanently damaging. 

The whimper came back, and Gar nodded again. 

“Would some sad puppy Gar pets make you feel better?”

Gar was still for just a moment before he shifted into an adorably sad looking beagle pup still curled up with his tail tucked up under him. He slowly came to his feet and walked over the sofa, putting two paws on Cyborg’s leg before laying down to rest his head on his lap.

“Yeah, you need sad puppy Gar pets for sure.” Cyborg reached down and gently stroked his finger tips down Gar’s back. 

Gar twitched and cringed at the touch. “Ah! Dude, cold fingies.” 

“My man, I apologize. Allow me to just...” Cyborg lifted his hand away for just a moment. The blue paneling on his forearm began to glow a gentle red as he flexed his hand a few times, and as soon as it went back down to blue he leaned down to stroke down Gar’s back again. “There. Better?”

“Mmmmm...” Gar’s tail started wagging, and his leg gave a small kick. That was all Cy would be getting in terms of encouragement, and it’s all he needed. 

Cyborg never wanted to OWN a pet. His passion projects took far too much time to leave for cleaning and feeding and playing. Having Beast Boy as a best friend, however, was better than any pet you could ever have. You got to pet and pamper and rough house and everything without any added responsibility! Cy had started just rubbing up and down the green puppy’s back, but it didn’t take long for him to be flopping those big hanging ears from side to side, scratching under his little chin, and then rolling that puppy into his lap for fat little belly rubs. 

Gar just basked in all of the benefits of being small and fluffy, Cyborg’s relatively giant hands pet and scratched and rubbed, like a simple fun full body massage. He rolled from side to side to get those strong metallic fingers to hit just those right spots, those digits nice and warm. As Gar was really getting into it, he began to shift into other forms to get things just a bit better, stretching out into the form of a cat, letting his now much leaner body feel those fingers dig that much more easily into the muscle as he pulled his paws up and flexed his fingers, his little claws popping out and cutely pawing at the air. 

Cyborg kept up the petting as he glanced up at the paused screen of the TV. His robotic eye pulsed quickly, like a blink, as he connected himself once again to the Tower’s wireless system. With just a thought he changed the TV to a list of nature channels and scrolled through his options until he found one narrated by the great Attenborough himself. What the show was covering didn’t matter, though in this case it seemed to be some densely wooded forest area and something about a family of ducks. The sound of the trees and wildlife on the screen matched with the gentle yet passionate narration made the now ferret formed boy in his lap sigh contently. 

“You are my best friend in the whole wide world duuuuuude...” Gar wiggled and squirmed around Cy’s hands before sitting up his lap and growing slightly larger, the green short haired Labrador laying up Cyborg’s chest and leaning back to lick his cheek as he got his whole belly rubbed. 

“Hey, pthp.” Cyborg chuckled and leaned away from the licking. “Dont make it weird, bro.” He used one hand to playfully hold Gar’s muzzle away. 

Gar wagged as he nipped and licked at the robotic hand until he was let go to speak. “Hehe... it’s not weird, brooooo. It’s just what animals do. It’s a show of trust and appreciation and junk. It’s a compliment.” He leaned back once more, nuzzling his cold nose against his friend’s cheek, feeling the change between the fleshy cheek right up to the point it shifted to the armored bit right under his eye and back.

“Yeah yeah, but it’s still YOU.” Despite it all, Cyborg leaned back in the sofa and kept it all up. “I dont need you knowing what my FACE tastes like.” 

Gar licked his own lips and chuckled. “Sweet and salty... kinda like barbecue sauce.”

“That would be my lunch. I had ribs.” 

“Why am I not surprised?” Gar once again just let himself relax against his buddy as they listened to the nature doc. It didn’t take long for him to want to take another form and change things up again, but this time he lost the fur and let himself BE himself, leaning back against Cy’s chest with his head leaning back over his shoulder, one hand reaching up to stroke Cy’s head, his other resting on his friend’s petting hand. 

Cyborg felt his body stiffen slightly against his intent as he realized what Gar was doing, and he shifted, feeling Gar’s barely covered butt slowly wiggle in his lap. “Hey bud, come on now...” 

“Whaaaat? It’s the same thing, right?” Gar rubbed his own nose against Cyborg’s cheek now, guiding his hand down against his thigh with a soft moan. “I promise I wont lick anymore~” 

Cyborg gulped, his internal systems clearly displaying for him the rise in his blood pressure, increase in heart rate, and the slight shortening of his breath. He let his hand slide across Gar’s thigh and felt the boy’s breath on his skin as he moaned out. Gar was warm and comfortably small, but as Gar’s body language became more flirtatious, Cyborg became more aware of his body’s reactions, and it became too much. “Hey, B, I uh... actually need to go do a diagnostics on the T-car. I’ve been putting it off, but you know if anything IS wrong, then it could take me a while to make repairs, so...” 

Gar groaned and squeezed Cybog’s hand. “Nooooo... can’t you stick around a bit more? We could-“

“No, buddy, I need to go.” Carefully but strongly Cyborg shifted Garfield off of his lap and onto the sofa so that he could stand, adjusting his sweat pants before changing the channel with a glance back to their racing game. “You can get a feel for the new track on hard and we can give it a go later maybe.” Without waiting around to say anything more, Cyborg was off, leaving his buddy a bit confused at the abruptness of his departure. 

Things had been going so well too. Gar crawled up into the sofa, resting his chin on the back rest and looking at the door Cy had left through towards the garage. He sighed as his ears began to sag again. He wondered why things were always so awkward with Cyborg after going so perfectly. He knew Cyborg was into it, he could feel his heartbeat and could smell the subtle chemical changes, not that he could ever tell what it was specifically he was smelling, only that he knew what it meant. Then it always shifted, pulling a 180 from Pleasure City straight to Awkward Village in a moment’s notice.

Jaime had walked into the kitchen without any notice from the changeling, and on his way back to the elevator with a cold can of Arizona tea in his hand he saw the little green head of hair flopped over the sofa watching the door. “Hey, chingon.” When Gar didn’t answer, Jaime stopped. He eyed over to the elevator, but decided this was more important than where he’d been going and walked over to the sofa. “You okay?”

Gar shrugged. “I dunno...”

Jaime placed his drink on the table and sat next to him, Gar not turning from watching the door. “My little green guy looks blue. You need sad puppy Gar pets?”

Gar actually felt himself chuckle a bit, letting himself finally turn and sit more comfortably facing Jaime. He loved how much his friends understood him. “Sorry. I was just hanging with Cyborg, and... well-“

“Got awkward?”

“For him, not for me... I thought it was going so well! GUH I wish I GOT it, ya know?” Gar covered his face with both hands, rubbing his eyes with his palms. 

Jaime nodded and crossed his arms, leaning back on the arm rest and kicking off his shoes before resting his legs over Gar’s lap. He was happy when Gar rested his arms down over them and pulled them close, knowing the physical closeness made him feel a little better. “Well, have you really talked to him about what you want and see if he’s okay giving it? Or maybe if he’s got some issues with it that maybe you can work with or around or whatever?”

Gar closed his eyes tightly and groaned as he laid back. “Talking about that kinda stuff is so hard though... Usually things just kinda happen. It flows. Ya know, all naturally and stuff. Talking about it makes me feel all weird.” 

“Well, maybe NOT talking about it makes HIM feel weird, yeah?” Jaime let that hang in the air for a little, Gar obviously hearing and taking it in. “You’ve been around the base a bit... hooked up with a good number of friends. No judgement here, I get it, because we’ve talked about it already. But was everyone exactly the same about hooking up?”

“It’s not... well, it’s not ‘hooking up’ really... I... I love my friends...” 

“And we all love you, okay?” Jaime shifted his leg to playfully kick Gar’s chest. “Hehe... but really, think. Some people took longer to understand, right? Some people were ready to pounce, some people you needed to take on an awesome but kinda awkward date, and some people didn’t understand they could just sleep with their friend because they weren’t raised that way.”

“Drawing a lot of personal experience, huh?” Gar chuckled, that playful grin finally coming back. 

“Exactly. So Cyborg needs to go at his pace, and that might not include the kinda playful fun you have in mind. But you know you love him, yeah? And I’ve seen you hang with Cyborg more than anyone else, you guys are seriously the deepest bromance I’ve ever witnessed, it’s almost sick.” 

Gar stuck out his tongue and gave Jaime the finger jokingly. “You’re all my friends, by Cy gets me differently.” 

“Uh huh, go ahead. MAKE me jealous.” The boys giggled at each other. “You should talk with him.” 

“Guuuuuh... I’ll think about it.”

“You do that.” Jaime removed his legs from the sofa and leaned over to give Gar a kiss, which the changeling happily accepted. They let the kiss linger, Jaime’s hand coming up to stroke a thumb over Gar’s cheek. “Hey. I have to go down for training in thirty minutes. You wanna head to my room for a bit for some of them sad puppy Gar pets?”

Gar grinned. “Sad puppy Gar is feeling much better, but I’m happy to come with you to give you happy Gar kisses.” They stood up together, and grabbing Jaime’s drink they took off for the elevator. Gar grinned. “I’ll even give you a happy puppy blow j-“

“Yes! I got the implication, cabron!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gar and Cyborg try to act like things are normal, but there’s a weight on Gar’s chest about the sexual tension he feels towards his best bro. If only he could talk to him...

To most people, being surrounded by a dozen glowing green metallic samurai thugs armed to the teeth with swords, clubs, and bows would be intimidating. For a Titan, this was practice. 

Already panting, Gar pressed his back to Cyborg’s, his head only coming up to the other boy’s shoulders. He’d already lost count of how many of these dummies he’d put down already, but he guessed Robin was pushing them for stamina because they just kept getting back up. Beast Boy reached up and gently nudged Cyborg’s head with the back of his hand. 

“Hey, Cy.” Neither of them looked away from the enemies that circled them. “You think you can just blast all these guys away like the first group?”

“Can I, sure... but come on buddy.” Cyborg chuckled and tilted his head with a very heavy satisfying pop. “Where would be the fun in that?”

“Pft, you just want me to do all the work, I get it.” 

“Yeah yeah, see if you can just finish off your half before I need to come in and clean up the rest, huh?”

“Oh... Oh! NOW I see. You’re gonna try to CHALLENGE me now, huh?” Gar chuckled and cracked his knuckles, adjusting the white gloves of his standard black and purple uniform. “You’re on.” With that, Beast Boy crouched down and placed one hand on the floor before using the relative leg strength of a frog to jump high into the air, shifting into a small green sparrow and flying over his opponents before shifting into a bull elephant! He trumpeted loudly as he fell, easily crushing two of the samurai under his five-ton form before swinging his head to attempt to impale a third on his long tusks! The samurai scattered before his follow-up attack, however, and began to flank him. 

Cyborg quickly lunged at his opponents as well, taking two quick strides before the rockets under his feet propelled him into the air in a long fast arch. His eyes quickly scanned his six opponents, marking them in his targeting system to make sure none got way as he reeled back his metallic fist and dove into a heavy full weighted punch into the first enemy. He felt the samurai’s armor crumble under his fist, his attack pushing through the whole body before protruding out the other side! It took only a split moment for the training program to register the hit and relevant damage before the enemy’s form crumbled away, the growing pile of nano-machines that made up the training dummy slithering away to be stored until it needed to reform into new terrain or enemies. 

Gar was trying to chase down samurai in his half of the court, but they were all on the defensive and evaded his relatively slow charges. With a sudden change of tactics, Gar shrank from the five-ton behemoth of an elephant to the three-pound wirey frame of a spider monkey, running quickly at a trio of foes faster than they could escape. With practiced motions he dodged the sword that was thrust his way, jumping up to grab at the wrist of the offender and crawling up his arm to his back. As he got his enemies back, Beast Boy once again shifted, this time into the form of a silverback gorilla. He used his momentum and weight to pull the opponent off of his feet, throwing him with ease into one of his fellow samurai! As they tumbled to the ground the great green gorilla pounced and began slamming his heavy fists into them until they were pounded into scrap, which crumbled away. That’s four down. 

Cyborg slowly walked towards his enemies, letting them take action first. It’s always safer to react against a foe’s actions as opposed to gambling on their reactions. Moving slowly forward it was simple to track the samurai in front of him as well as behind, his sensors detecting both sound and motion all around him. He had his eyes forward, but was prepared when an enemy swung their club at his exposed back. He turned and raised a hand, catching the bat-like weapon in his robotic hand. A high pitched whirr and sharp hiss of hydraulics could be heard as his grip tightened to the point of shattering the club between his fingers. As the samurai backed away to regroup, Cyborg’s fist pulled back into his wrist, his forearm widening and glowing bright blue. Steadying his feet, Cyborg pointed forward and released a rapid pulse of strong focused sound waves! The beam of sound hit like a fire hose, but the vibrations not only pushed his enemies back but shook them so violently to their core that three samurai began to shatter and crumble where they stood. As they fell, Cyborg’s hand pushed back into place, his forearm retightening. Steam rose from his exposed wrist, and as Cyborg turned to his final two attackers, he blew across his fist like a gun barrel. 

Beast Boy rushed in his gorilla form, dashing from side to side as he avoided the arrows coming from his final two opponents. As he neared, his form elongating into a giant crocodile, snapping at a samurai’s leg. The next arrows bounced off of the thick armored scales of his back. He gripped the enemy’s leg with his jaws and began to death roll, pulling the samurai off of his feet and sending him tumbling as he spun over and over again. Gar elongated further, using the rolling motion to wrap up the samurai in a new thick muscled form of a python. He hissed at the remaining enemy as he squeezed hard, feeling the form of the dummy in his grip crushing and falling away into a pile of nano-bots. An arrow came flying, but the changeling shrank into a kangaroo mouse to avoid the attack. He hopped quickly over to the final baddie, hopping up as he grew into a full kangaroo proper, pushing forward on his tail as he kicked with full force, sending the samurai crumbling to the floor. 

“Hey B!” Cyborg had rushed his last opponent, holding him in a firm arm lock and holding him out in front of him. “Last one’s all you!” 

Gar grinned and shrank down into a large muscled ram, kicking his feet back. “My pleasure!” He charged and lowered his thick curled horns, head-butting the final samurai right in the middle, smashing him in two! Beast Boy stood into his human form and turned to high-five his bro! “Dude, nice!” 

“No one can hold a candle to us!” 

The celebration did not last long, however, as the lights of the training room shifted, the darkened walls lighting up to cast away the illusion of the large space. Tim Drake stepped from behind the control panel, wearing his heroic uniform sans cape and mask. “You failed.” 

Gar and Cyborg were silent, and then looked at each other before looking back at their team leader. “What!?” They both cried out. 

Tim walked to the center of the room, closer to his teammates. “This exercise was specifically designed to test your ability to fight together. Team work. Cooperation. Splitting up and fighting groups alone does not cover the minimum requirements for you to pass.” 

Beast Boy crossed his arms and pouted. “That’s... I mean... That LAST one we did!” 

Cyborg followed suit, crossing his own arms as well. “Yeah. And besides, we’ve fought...’ His robotic eye blinked red as he reviewed his memory. “sixty-five of these practice dummies! And what, you decide to tell us NOW that we were doing it wrong?”

“I told you at the very beginning the purpose of the training. You didn’t pay attention.” Tim did not look in the least intimidated by the power-house and the meta-human. These were his teammates and friends, but right now he needed to wear his leader hat and they were his subordinates. “Cyborg, you are impeccable at following instructions to the tee, but you become distracted easily. If you feel the work load is too easy for you, then you’re missing the point of the training. And Gar.” Tim turned to the changeling. “Your strength has always relied too much on your ability to improvise in the moment, but sometimes that wont be enough. You need to be able to not only react, but adapt a solid plan on the fly in order to take advantage of your combined strength. There will be times when you wont be strong enough to accomplish a task on your own.” 

Beast Boy turned his eyes down and shifted on his feet, looking a bit less confident than usual. Normally he’d be cocky about his abilities, but since he’d began taking private training with Tim he’s been shown time and time again that he has limits that others surpassed him in regularly. He had built up a bedrock of respect for Robin, and even though usually he could still joke around and play around with his leader, he had learned that when Tim was serious like this he needed to just swallow it. 

As both Cyborg and Beast Boy were holding their tongues, Tim went on. “You guys have one of the strongest bonds on the whole team. That’s why I want you to be able to work together, not just along side each other. I’ll reset the systems to test you again later. As you failed today, you’ll do six miles on the track while I test the next team.”

Gar and Cyborg both groaned, but Tim had already turned and started to walk back to the panel to set up the training room for the next team. The duo walked out of the room, into the underground running track that stretched a full mile per lap. With a collective sigh, they began running. 

Gar was already somewhat winded from the long battle inside, and he was panting only halfway through their first lap. “So...hah...I was wondering... hah...hah... I think... uh....hah...” Gar had been thinking all night about what Jaime had said before. If he just kept pushing for Cyborg to accept his advances and refused to bite the bullet and talk to him about how he felt, then either nothing would change and they’d run in awkward circles forever, or he’d be unknowing chipping at their friendship until it collapsed and he scared Cyborg off for good. He’s rather kill any chance of them getting together than lose the friendship they already had. 

“Yeah, bud?” Cyborg kept his run strong, but wasn’t the least out of breath. “You need to take a break? Is my little B getting tired?” He gave Gar a cheeky grin. 

“Oh... OH....hah... you are Sooooo...hah... funny!” Gar was now giggling, which along with his being out of breath and having an uncomfortably serious conversation on his mind all made it nearly impossible to say what he’d wanted to, but he couldn’t blame Cyborg. The jerk was just the best friend he’s always needed. Beast Boy decided to keep moving, but he shifted into the form of a horse, now gently trotting besides Cyborg. “Ah, better... whew...” Still winded, but with a much longer gait and powerful lungs, he at least wasn’t as winded. “Look, I was just wondering if we could have a... well, a talk at some point. You know... about-“

“I think I know what you wanna talk about, bud. But I don’t know if I want to talk about that kinda stuff right now.” Cyborg had turned his attention forward, not looking at the stallion beside him. “I got some work to do later. Maybe some other time when we’ve both calmed down.” 

Gar felt his insides twist at that choice of words, the image of Raven coming into his mind, remembering not being able to even have a simple talk with her without making it awkward and just walking away. He didn’t want that to be Cyborg next. “I mean... yeah but...” Why did this have to be so awkward? “It’s... kinda important, you know? Maybe we can-“

The intercom cut in on his thought with Tim’s voice. “Beast Boy. I want you running on two legs, not four.” 

Gar gave a side glance and a sneer at the nearest security camera, shifting into an Ostrich and sticking out his tongue. 

“... Gar, I’ve added an extra lap to your assignment.” 

“GUH!” He changed back to his normal human form and almost stumbled as he was forced to work harder for each step. “Anyways...hah...” Dammit, he was going to struggle to talk as they ran.

“Let’s talk about it later, B. You know, when we’re not running a half dozen miles. Well, I’ve got half a dozen. You’ve got seven.” Cyborg grinned jokingly over to Gar. 

Gar groaned, but was honestly relieved to see Cyborg at least cracking a joke. He was avoiding the confrontation, sure, but Gar wanted to avoid it himself too. Maybe giving a little time would be okay... as long as they didn’t just sweep it fully under the rug. 

The two ran their miles, no more serious conversation, mostly just Cyborg giving Gar a ribbing for struggling. Cyborg seemed to never miss a single step, his stupid gears doing all of the work. At the end of six miles, he slowed and gave Gar a playful wave before slowing down and slipping back into the training area. Gar, however, needed to stay on the track for a whole last lap. By the time he finished and went into the training room Tim was the only one there, standing at his control panel no doubt having been watching the cameras to make sure there was no cheating involved. Part of Garfield’s mind was happy he had someone who was really intent on making sure he was always doing his best and didn’t slack off. The other part of his mind wanted Tim to go stick his head in a bucket of spoiled milk. 

Stepping out from behind his control panel, Tim walked over to Gar. “You did a good job.” 

Gar fought not to roll his eyes. “Yeah, I hope you had fun wat-“ Before he could finish, Tim had stepped forward and leaned down, pressing their lips together. This caught Gar by surprise but he didn’t pull away, and in fact he’d soon closed his eyes and tilted his head gently. “Mmmm...” 

Tim smiled into the kiss, slipping a hand up Gar’s arm before releasing their lips and pulling him into a hug. “You’re doing so well, pup.” 

“Hehe... well...” Gar felt himself tenting in his uniform, eyes darting around to make sure no one was around. “You did train me... I guess thanks.” It’d been a good while since he and Tim had played around, even though they’d had a lot of alone time together as Tim drilled him and pushed his physical limits with each private workout. It was rare that Tim slipped in this occasional show of affection, so when those strong hands slipped over his butt, Gar instinctively pushed his hips forward. “Ah... Someone’s handsy today~” 

“Just showing some pride in your progress, Garfield. You’ve been getting stronger and stronger, and fuck...” Tim slipped his cheek over Gar’s whispering hotly into his ear, “your body is looking so god damn sexy. I can barely contain myself.” Tim dragged one hand from Beast Boy’s ass over his hip and right to his front, deliberately stroking up the tent in his tight uniform. 

“A-ah... ah damn, Robin...” Gar shivered and panted lightly, his hips moving with Tim’s seductive fingers. This was all so sudden! 

Tim kissed and nibbled down Gar’s neck before inhaling his scent. “Mmmm... you’re so sweaty.”

Gar felt himself blush, and he gulped. “W-well, you just had me running seven miles... nnnng...”

“That’s right. And why was that?” Tim lifted his lips from Gar’s skin and raised his head enough to rub noses, their lips barely an inch apart. “Come on, tell me.” 

“I... Me and...” Gar swallowed again, his head starting to spin a bit as his exhaustion was catching up with him and his blood was draining to his downstairs. “Me and Cyborg didn’t... like... pass your test...” 

“The test? Oh yes... what were you supposed to be working on?” Tim gently squeezed Gar’s package, making him whimper lustuflly. “What was it?”

“T-teamwork! Fuck, Robin, if you’re not gonna do me here, take me somewhere please...I-“

“You what? You want to be fucked real bad, huh? Well how about I make you a deal?” Tim leaned forward to catch Gar’s lips one more time before leaning back and taking a step away, removing his hand. He grinned at how Gar had been on his tiptoes, the front of his uniform tented and throbbing. “You pass the test with Cyborg, and we’ll plan another play time. How does that sound?”

“... ... ...” Gar fell from his tiptoes and looked at Tim with a blushed and somewhat desperate look. After all of that, and he’s just gonna leave him teased and horned up as punishment!? “You... are so fucking cruel...” 

Tim gave a wink. “I sent everyone off to the showers a minute ago. You go join them, think about how you and Cyborg can work together for the next test. If I need to use your own sex drive against you to help you focus... well, I’m your leader and your personal trainer. It’s what I do.” With a cunning grin, Tim turned and made his way out of the training room, leaving Gar to think about his punishment. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

“Oh my God, he didn’t really did he?” Jaime stepped under the shower head, letting the soap rinse from his hair and down his back, washing right over the dark blue and red scarab that held on between his shoulder blades, his eyes shut tight. “I’d heard you’d flirted with Robin before, but he’s actually using sex as a bargaining chip to get you to train harder? That’s cold.” 

“Ha!” Bart Allen peeked over the four-foot divider wall of the shower room, his hair dripping down over his face before he swiped his hand back over his head to free his eyes. “I think Beasty is bluffing. There’s a whole pick of booties around the tower he could probably have fooled me with that, but Timmy boy? That guy is such a straight edge you could use him to put up a TV.”

“Uh, I think that phrase is ‘to put up a shelf’, cabron.” 

“Pft, he could be putting up a picture of his mom for all it matters, sheesh!” Bart stepped away from the wall and grabbed a wash cloth, lifting his arm to scrub at his hairless pits. “My point is, Beasty flirts the big flirt, but I doubt he’s actually bedded the bird.” 

Gar had kicked off his shoes and hung up his belt, and was unzipping his uniform as he listened to the rest of the boys going back and forth about this, but chuckled at the little speedster’s accusations. “You underestimate the power of the beast, my fast-footed friend.” He slipped his arms free before pulling everything down his legs in one go, leaving himself fully exposed. He was still half mast from the groping from the team leader, but he didn’t bother hiding it as he walked to the shower next to Jaime. “You’re newer, so I’m sure no one has told you. No one can resist my boyish charms. Once I’ve caught the scent and the hunt is on, there is no escape. Muhaha~!” 

Jaime playfully jabbed an elbow at the changeling’s arm, getting an equally playful shove back. “You’re impossible, bendejo.” Jaime shut off his shower head and walked to the lockers for a towel. 

“Awwww~” Gar called after Jaime and gave him a wink. “You know you like it.” 

Bart had stuck his head up over the wall once again, glancing between the two heroes. “Wait... you mean you two? Have you guys... Oh totally crash!” He giggled at his teammates until a sharp crack made his eyes go wide in shock. “Yowch-Ee-MAMA!” Bart jumped and turned, his hands flying to his butt to rub in pain. 

Tai, one of the other newer members of the Titans, held a green glowing towel wrapped tightly into a dense whip, which quickly vanished as he let his own shower pour over his back. “I think you should keep your nose from poking too much into everyone else’s affairs until you at least know if you’re invited, Bart.” He grinned as he began to scrub himself with a loofa that formed in his hands, glowing green as his towel did. 

“Pft...” Bart turned off his shower head and started walking out towards the lockers. “You ever take that ring off, glow boy?” Bart crouched slightly and lifted one foot before sending himself into a whirlwind of a spin, water droplets flying everywhere for a brief moment before he stopped. His body was fully dry, though his hair was a complete disaster standing in all directions and twisted like a bad ice-cream cone. 

“Never if I can help it. I’d hate to be the only one in here who didn’t have access to their powers.” Tai turned to focus on cleaning himself off as Bart went to his locker to get dressed. 

Gar was the last one to start his own shower, pulling out an extra large bottle of shampoo. “Hey, wasn’t Cyborg with you guys?”

Jaime had slipped on his black boxer briefs and was working on a black full sleeved undershirt as he turned back over to Gar. “Yeah, he came in right near the end of our training practice. He waited around until we were done and Tim excused us all at once.” 

“Yes but-“ Bart pulled on an oversized tee shirt with the Superman logo, free balling it for the moment. “He didn’t come with us. He left out the front to go to his room or something.” The speedster slipped on his briefs and sat to work on his ankle socks. 

“Huh...” Gar soaped himself up good from head to toe, wondering to himself. The teams almost always came in to train in shifts and were let go a few at a time, and it was rare that he was training at the same time as Cyborg. But of the times they had... “Does he just NOT shower then?” 

Bart finally pulled on his ripped up jeans and stood up into his large Velcro laced sneakers. “Huh, I mean... I’m guessing he does. Probably has a special shower so he doesn’t short himself out or something.” 

Jaime shook his head as he pulled a white tee shirt over his head and sat down to put on his shoes. “No, he’s far too high tech for water damage or anything. He’s gotta be more like Scarab, get wet get dry no damage done. The man swims just fine, so a shower would be nothing.” 

“Maybe,” Tai offered as he shut off his own shower head and willed a dry towel into his hand which he wrapped around his waist, “maybe he’s just a bit shy.” 

“Shy?” Bart scoffed, slipping yellow tinted glasses over his eyes and getting up to head out. “The guy is built like a tank. Like.... a LITERAL tank. What’s he got to be shy about?”

Tai rolled his eyes as he got to his locker. “Well, Bart, some people aren’t always seeing themselves as positively as you might. And dont forget that technically he’s a quadriplegic. MAYBE that is a reason he doesn’t strip down with the rest of the guys, you know?”

Before the argument could go on, Gar very purposefully cleared his throat. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about our teammates so openly behind their back though, right guys?” He glanced over to them. He might be small and silly at times, but Gar was still one of the most senior members of the Titans, and that did come with a small demand of respect. 

Bart raised his hands as he walked for the door. “Hey hey, that’s crash dude. I meant nothing by it.”   
“Yeah, same. Sorry.” Tai actually looked a bit ashamed, and the boys all went a bit quiet as they finished getting dressed. Tai was soon heading out, getting a pat on the back by Jaime before he left. 

“Everything okay, cabron?” Jaime walked over and leaned on one of the lockers, watching as Gar rinsed off. “You sound a bit... off.” 

“Yeah, bud, I’m okay. Just been thinking about stuff.” Gar turned off the water before shrinking down into the shape of a dog, shaking himself dry and then standing back up to stick a finger in his ear to try to get the water out. “That, and I’m tired from the extra run Tim made me do.” 

“Alright... well, if you need to talk things through, you know I’m here for you, right?” Jaime grabbed a towel from the clean stack and tossed it over to Gar, who caught it and tossed it over his shoulders. 

“Yeah... talking about stuff is the hard bit. Any idea where Cyborg went?”

“Oh, so you are trying to talk to him, eh Chico?”

“I’m tryyyying to follow your advice, but he’s not making it easy.” As Gar approached his locker, he leaned forward and gently bumped his head into the solid metal door. “Guh... things just can never be easy, huh?”

“Not likely, bud. I dunno where he went, but I’m sure he’s around.” Jaime walked up from behind and gave the green boy a gentle swat on the butt as he went by. “I’ll see ya around, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks man. See ya.” Gar sighed and opened his locker to get dressed, determined to figure out where Cyborg had gone so he could at the least say what he needed to so he could be done with it. He didn’t want this drama sitting on his shoulders any more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Words can be hard. Recognizing and processing your own feelings can be hard. Dealing with your best friend can be hard.
> 
> Trying to process the words that communicate your feelings To your best friend? Guh... <3

Beast Boy walked around the Titan Tower searching for Cyborg. He didn’t want to alert anyone else that he was looking because he was hoping for some time alone, so radio communications or the intercom weren’t good options. He walked through the normal rooms you’d find him. The kitchen, in front of the TV, the garage, the main computer... nothing. As he was exploring the Tower and didn’t know who he’d be running into, Gar had even put on his Jurassic Island shirt and some green cargo shorts, but didn’t bother with any shoes. 

He finally went to Cyborg’s room, but found it empty. He’d given a knock before letting himself in, glancing around to see if he might be napping or something. He’d been in Cyborg’s room so many times, and it was always with a mix of strangeness and envy. By far Cyborg’s room was the biggest of the other Titans, half of it set up like a normal room with a computer desk, a dresser with some sports memorabilia on top, a bookshelf filled with movies and games, a couple of sports posters... but the other half was a strange workshop. A few tools hung on the wall, and Gar knew one of the walls slid open to expose a number of replacement limbs and parts he could access at any time, but the weirdest thing was always the bed. It was a large mechanical rack with so many plugs and cables and restraints it looked more like a torture device. 

With so sign of Cyborg, Gar was about to leave the room when he noticed the rug behind Cy’s computer desk lifted slightly on one side. Gar knew about the hidden entrance to the extension of Cyborg’s room, but hadn’t thought to look in there yet. He helped himself inside of Cyborg’s room properly, closing the door behind him, and knelt down to the rug and slipped his hand across the exposed edge of the hidden entrance door until he felt the control switches, pressing up before stepping back and letting the thick steel door open on its own. He stuck his head down into the secret room and found Cyborg sitting at the desk in front of his dual monitors each scrolling with coded text as he held a small box like device in front of him, his white muscle shirt streaked with what looked like oil, and his casual sweatpants and sandals back on. 

“Heya, Cy! I found you!” Skipping the built in stair latter that lead into the room, Gar gripped the edge of the entryway and let himself fall forward inside, shifting into a small duckling as he fell, bouncing off of the ground before shifting back. 

“I wasn’t hiding.” Cyborg didn’t turn from his work. One of his fingers had opened to produce a small needle-thin prod that he pressed against exposed pins inside of the box in order to test each connection one by one in his head. “What’s up?”

Gar put his arms behind his head and looked around the room. “Wow, you’ve done a lot of updates in here, huh?” Slowly turning on his feet, Gar noticed how much the room has changed since he was last inside, almost a month ago, when Cy had started this pet project. What had started as essentially a large secret closet with metal walls and concrete floor now had solid wood flooring, a large sofa along one wall and the computer desk along another, and the walls had been paneled with what looked like an enlarged version of the mechanics that made up Cyborg’s limbs. They pulsed with soft blue light, one of the many panels opened like a door to expose a large complicated speaker system with a single square hole below what looked like what must be the subwoofer. ”Seriously... wow.” 

“Yeah, I’ve been working hard to get it ready.” Cyborg stood from his seat, the prod from his fingers retracting as he approached the exposed speakers and replaced the box into the hole and went down to one knee to reach around and fiddle with its connections. “But you didn’t come down here to talk about my game room.” Tightening the bolts with his fingers, Cyborg finally stood and tapped the open cabinet door, which gave a light hiss before shutting automatically and clicking in place, now nearly invisible among the rest of the wall. 

“Yeah, um...” Suddenly it became much harder to talk again, But Gar hadn’t come this far to flake out again. “Look, we’re alone right? I just wanna-“

“B. You wanna talk about us... like, fucking. Getting down to brass tacks.” Cyborg sounded almost offendedly annoyed, sitting back into his computer chair and turning back to the monitors. “And I said I wasn’t ready to talk about that stuff. I don’t... I mean... I don’t get why this is so important to you right now. If you wanna get your rocks off, go check with Robin or Jaime or something.” 

Gar honestly felt hurt by the implication that he was just wanted to screw around, and worse when he broke it down in his head and it kinda did kinda feel that way. “W-well... I mean, it’s not about-“

“Garfield.” Cyborg turned in his chair to face him finally and even stood up. “It IS about that. Okay? Stop trying to make it seem like more than it is. You want something that I don’t want to give, period. Now I said I don’t want to talk about this, so just let me work.”

“But Cy, I-“

Cyborg took a step forward with a frustrated sigh. “Later.” He looked past his friend as he reached out and turned the boy around, pushing him gently towards the stairs. “I don’t. Want. To talk about-“

Gar couldn’t handle the situation as it was, and he felt all of his animal senses screaming at him to just run away from the confrontation. So much of him wanted to just take the path of least resistance and let this whole thing go, but the human part of him knew that it would wear them down until they broke if they didn’t deal with it. He forced himself to turn around and shoved Cyborg’s pushy hands away, stomping his feet firmly down. “Then...Then DON’T talk! Can you just... Can... Just listen!” Gar felt himself shaking, and noticed he was looking at the floor as he stood. Cyborg hadn’t moved, but he wasn’t pushing him anymore. Gar tried to swallow the pain in his throat down and tried to look up, but too much of him couldn’t face Cyborg directly and kept his eyes down to the floor. 

Cyborg was taken slightly aback at Gar’s raised voice. He was starting to feel more annoyed, but took a real read on his friend’s body language. The shakes, the eye direction, the voice inflections... and then he noticed a dark line down Gar’s cheek. Shit, he was crying. “...Fine. I’ll listen. Just don’t expect anything more.” He glanced up at the hidden door back to his room and his robotic eye blinked, followed by the door slowly closing, any noise from the room above silencing as it clicked shut. Cyborg sighed as he sat back in his computer chair. “Here, sit down.” He gestured to the sofa. 

Gar nodded and sniffled. It was only then he noticed he was crying, and quickly rose a hand up to wipe his cheeks, not wanting to be such a mess. He took a few breaths as he sat down and pulled his feet under him, crossing his legs. He was quiet for a bit before he was able to find words to start. “I... you know I love you, right?”

Cyborg took a deep breath but nodded. “I mean, you love all of your friends.”

“Yeah... And you’re like... my best friend.”

“And you have sex with all of your-“

“S-stop!” Gar cut him off, bringing his hands up to pull at his hair in frustration. “Look, no, I... Okay, I DO like to have sex, and I think it’s okay between friends, but that’s not... It’s only kinda what this is about.”

“So this isn’t just about you wanting to sleep with me? That’s a relief.” Cyborg’s words were dripping with sarcasm. 

Gar grit his teeth. “I thought you said you didn’t have anything to say? Can I please get this off of my chest before you make fun of me or I just lose my nerve?” He waited until Cyborg sat back and crossed his arms, making a show of how he’ll keep his mouth shut even if he didn’t like what they were talking about. “... Thank you. Cy I’m not... I don’t just sleep around with anyone friendly. And I don’t play around with people who don’t want it or anything. I... I make friends, and we hang out, we test the waters... and if sex is on the table, then I embrace, it, okay? Maybe it’s just the animalistic part of me, I don’t know, I don’t want to make that my excuse but it IS a factor. But... I don’t want... I don’t want you and me to end up like me and Raven...” 

Cyborg lifted an eyebrow. “Can I ask something?” He waited, and finally Gar nodded. “I think I know what happened with you and Raven. You guys started having a fling, she didn’t like that you were sleeping around, you guys had a falling out. How is that anything like you and me?”

“Well, it’s almost right. Yeah, that I slept around with other people made her upset... but what really was bad was that I didn’t tell her about that until after she and I slept together. I mean... not that I’ve hard partners before or whatever, but that I had like... active partners. And that I planned on continuing that whole thing... She felt like I’d... well, I HAD broken her trust.” Gar lifted his knees, holding them to his chest. “She told me it felt like I’d cheated and used her. I tried to explain, but the damage was done. She didn’t want to trust me anymore, and now... I can’t even... it’s like she doesn’t want to be my friend. She says she needs time... but I don’t know, she doesn’t feel safe around me...” Tears were beginning to flow out again. “I don’t want to make you feel like you don’t want to be my friend, Cy...”

“You know I want to be your friend, B...” 

“Raven would have said the same thing before...” 

“Well... but then why do you push this so much, man? That’s what I don’t get.” Cyborg stood up again, pushing his steel fingers through his half a head of short cut hair. “Things are so normal, and then you start getting all flirty and frisky and-“

“Because I... well, because I think you want it to, and...” 

“Whoa whoa...” Cyborg held up his hands. “Why’s that now? What have I done to make you think I’m just jonsing to bone my best bud?”

Gar was blushing through his own panicked tears. “Because I can smell it on you...” 

“...Smell it?”

“Yeah...” Gar sighed and pressed his face against his knees. “Whenever we get really close... you know, if you’re petting me, or we get to wrestling, or you’re just carrying me around... sometimes you start... well, I start getting signals. Your heart rate goes up, your blood fills with more testosterone, your nose flares a bit...”

Cyborg shook his head in surprise. “Waaait a minute time out...What?”

“Look, I don’t look for this stuff, I just notice it... I can smell your arousal, I feel your blood pulsing, I hear your voice drop, it’s all just... I can tell when someone is turned on! Okay?!”

“Oh man...” Cyborg rubbed his face, feeling the skin of his cheek flexing on one end while metal on metal rubbed on the other. He took a deep breath and kneeled down in front of Gar. “Bud, listen... there are reasons I don’t want to... get involved. Like, more than friends and stuff. There are reasons I’ve never had a girlfriend. I’m not... well, I’m complicated.” 

Gar glanced up, his eyes red but looking at Cyborg mockingly. “You’re telling that to a green skinned changeling.” 

“Yeah, but you’re at least alive!” Cyborg stayed on level with his friend. He hated bringing this stuff up, because the more he did the more it felt real. “I’m questionable at best.” 

“What are you talking about?” Gar lifted his head a bit further to rest his chin on his hands, finally having full eye contact. Cyborg had looked uncomfortable before, but it wasn’t the same now. He looked worried more than just annoyed. 

“Well look... You said you could ‘sense arousal’ right? Well what are you sensing now?” Cyborg stayed on one knee but straightened his back and lifted both arms to expose himself as much as he could without stripping down. 

Gar usually didn’t actively look for signs of someone’s... state? Would that be what you call it? Either way, he wiped under his eyes with the back of his hand and looked at his friend again, looking for what he normally just offhandedly noticed. Cy’s eyes were slightly dilated, and he could just hear his heart beat quickening. Strange that it was quickening almost as he listened. He could also smell that light almost pheromone like increase of chemicals in his blood. “I... I think you’re kinda turned on. upset a bit maybe, but I can smell-“

“I know you can. Because look again.” 

Gar tilted his head a bit and was going to ask what Cy was talking about when he watched his pupils shrink before his eyes, his heart quickened rapidly, and his blood smelled much.. sharper. “Are... are you afraid?”

“And now?” 

Gar was getting confused as the heartbeat in his ears slowed to a relative crawl, Cy’s breathing steadying, and his smell subsided a lot. “I don’t get it... it’s like you’re... sleeping?”

“B, listen.” Cyborg stood back up and rest his hands on his hips. “When I say I’m questionably alive at best, it’s because of things like this. I am more machine than you probably know. I don’t just have metal legs and fists.”

“Yeah...” Gar squinted a little questionably. “You’ve got... like part of your brain, and some artificial organs, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what it started as.” Cyborg’s foot tapped absently beneath him. “I don’t like talking about it so I’d appreciate you keep this between us. Obviously some people are very aware of my whole situation, but I don’t need EVERYONE knowing, you get me?” He waited for Gar to nod and then continued. “When I joined the Titans I was more human that I am now. Every time I got damaged I needed to head back into a lab to have myself tested, and time and time again I needed just a bit of work. A little tweak, some minor repair, a few upgrades. Eventually I was having other organs replaced, and then muscle tissue needed to be reinforced in order to hold everything together securely, it just kept going and going... I’m barely human, B.”

Gar got up from where he had been sitting and took a few steps towards Cyborg. “Um... can I... Look, I know it’s weird and all, but can I like.... see?” 

Cyborg knew his friend wasn’t being just morbidly curious and meant no offense, so he nodded and lifted his shirt over his head. “You can’t see a lot.” He raised his arms and turned. His whole torso looked fine. Damn fine even. Muscled like a body builder down his back, large pectorals, visible abs. Not a scar on him. Partway down his bicep his arm cleanly connected to a metallic band into the black prosthetic which inserted into his white steel and blue mechanic arm. Gar knew it was similar with his legs as well, and it was the same with the plate that covered a quarter of his head, covering one eye and one ear, all the way to the back of his skull. “The exposed parts of my mechanics are under the most stress, and don’t benefit from attempting to cover them. If I covered my fists, the first punch would tear through any artificial skin and would need to be reapplied constantly. And my face plate covers the damaged part of my brain, and any cosmetics would compromise my overall safety.”

Gar had seen Cyborg plenty of times in different degrees of undress, but he never really studied his buddy’s body. It was a non issue. He looks... fine. Hot as fuck, really, but besides the obvious limbs and head plate, he looked normal. Gar pressed his fingers gently into Cyborg’s abs, feeling them slowly give way, but then turned nearly solid as Cyborg flexed. “Wow... hard as a rock.” 

“Harder, actually. My muscle structure is comprised of a number of titanium alloys and carbon fiber woven into the shape of normal human tissue, covering and protecting my endoskeleton and artificial organs, as well as a number of artificial blood vessels, coolant tubes, lubrication... They cloned my tissue samples in order to create a more realistic skin, with hair follicles, sweat glands...” 

“Wait, so you DO sweat? So... okay, weird I know, but so DO you shower? Because were just talking about that earlier...” 

Cyborg glanced down. “Wait, who was talking about it earlier?”

“No one! I mean, I just noticed.” Gar grinned awkwardly. “But... do you?”

Cyborg rolled his eye. “I do sometimes, but I can actually activate my sweat glands at will. I don’t need to sweat in order to cool my body down, so it’s fully manual. And that’s... well, that’s actually kinda the reason why, in a way, I’m always kinda scared to get into a relationship.”

Gar looked confused. “Because you sweat on demand?”

“No, you doofus.” Cyborg gave his pal a gentle knock on the head. “Because I can control all of it. My internal systems allow me to control almost every aspect of my body, and that includes my hormones. It helps my brain to function more naturally when the fluids pumping through me have adrenaline, or serotonin, testosterone... but I can adjust those flows with a thought.” He sighed and stepped past Gar, turning to sit in the sofa. “So... I can just... I can sorta turn on and off my feelings for someone. And I don’t know sometimes what I’m feeling and if it’s real. I’ve done it before... I was distracted by my attraction to someone in a tense situation, so I just shut off any extra chemicals flowing through my body, and cleared my head. No more feelings. So if I can just do that, then how do I know if I really care for someone? Or what if I can’t really? What if I end up creating a feeling for someone without knowing it just to fulfill some basic need, but I don’t really have natural feelings for them?” He leaned back and sighed heavily. “It’s just too much...” 

Gar thought about all of this. He knew Cyborg has had some periods of difficulty with his humanity in the past, but he’d never really understood it and Cy always seemed to get better about it really quickly. It didn’t seem all that important. Hearing about all of this now was a lot to take in, but it sort of made sense. What if he WAS really emotional about it but just shut that part off for other people? No one would really know if he did. Maybe HE didn’t even know he did. But one thing Gar DID know is that no one dehumanized his best bro. Even his best bro! Beast Boy walked up to the sofa and crawled up between Cyborg’s legs, straddling his lap and leaning in extra close, giving Cyborg squinty glarey eyes. 

Cyborg was used to his friend popping any kind of bubble he’s had with his personal space, but was almost going cross eyes from how close their noses were. “... ... What?”

Gar leaned back, lifted his hand, and bonked Cyborg on the head. “No.” 

Cyborg flinched at the somewhat firm knock on his head, rubbing it with his hand. “What uh... what do you mean no?”

“You’re hurting my friend’s feelings.” Gar gave soft punches to Cyborg’s chest until the big man was holding his wrists. “My best friend Cyborg might not have the lungs he was born with, and he might have some of the biggest best muscles that money can buy, but I don’t care what you say he has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met!”

Cyborg chuckled. “Pft, well... technically, don’t have a heart either, so-“

Gar leaned forward and pressed his forehead right up against Cyborg’s, shutting him up for a moment more. “He. Is more human. Than almost anyone. I. Know.” Gar bit his lip, feeling wants and needs rising up in him that he wanted to resist. “And...” He sniffed, fighting back tears again. “And just so you know... your pulse is rising again. Your pupils are dilated. Your breathing increased. And I can smell you wanting me.” Gar gulped. “And you’re not turning that on for my benefit. And you’ve never wanted to manipulate me into liking you or wanting you... you wouldn’t do that. So you can turn it all off if you want. You can pretend you want to have that wall built up around your feelings and that you’re comfortable there... but don’t lie about my best friend. He is-“ Gar would have tried to go on, but Cyborg had shifted his head, and their lips were suddenly pressed firmly together. “Mmm!?”

Gar was right. Cyborg hadn’t meant to give off signs of arousal, and he never had meant to before. This wasn’t the computer integrated into his brain manipulating his body reactions, but his human mind telling him how he felt. He moved his hands to grip his friend’s legs as he kissed, feeling the changeling’s lips loosen after the shock had worn off. Cyborg loosened his jaw, and his adventurous friend’s tongue slips between his lips. Gar was leaning forward now, his small clawed hands gripping his chest as they kissed. Gar had been wanting this kiss a long time, and now Cyborg was about ready to admit to himself that he had been too...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Gar laid happily across Cyborg’s secret game-room sofa with his head very contently in his best friend’s lap. Even in his natural human form he softly purred as warmed robotic fingers stroked his hair before gently scratching up and down his back. He hadn’t felt this relieved in a long time, and they hadn’t even gotten off. Just a bunch of making out. Totally worth it. 

Cyborg had his eyes closed, leaning back into the sofa as he pet Gar’s head. He still questioned some things about himself, but he felt there was one thing he never had to question again, and that was how his best friend saw him. He gently dragged one finger across the boy’s green forehead, pulling the hair from his eyes before carefully rubbing his pointed ear between his thumb and forefinger. “Hey B?”

“Mmm?”

“Sorry for being so stubborn about this. Thanks for opening me up to this.” 

Gar giggled as he turned onto his back, letting Cyborg’s hand scratch down his chest. “You just wait. Next time maybe I’ll open you up a lot more.” 

“Oh my god you’re awful.” Cyborg couldn’t help chuckling. 

“Hehe, but it made you smile. Worth it.” Gar took Cyborg’s hand and lifted it over his face, taking it with both hands and playing around with the fingers. “Hey Cy? Can you like... FEEL with these?”

“Yup. Just as much as with any other part of me. The signals of pressure and temperature and everything translates straight to my brain just like... oh.” Cyborg blushed and chuckled again as Gar lowered his hand and began sucking on two fingers. 

“Mmmm...” Gar let the fingers slip from between his lips. “Weird. They don’t really taste of anything, but I get little tingles like licking a battery but less harsh. Kinda cool.” 

“Well I think you now know officially more about how I taste than even my doctor knows, congrats.” 

“Booya.” The two chuckled together as Cyborg went back to petting his buddy’s chest. “So when is the game room gonna be done?”

“Still got a lot to wire in. If I do things right, this room will be the epitome of visual and sound experience. You, my bro, are gonna love it.” 

“Awesome... and in the meantime, we can use it as a secret make out room.” 

“Pft... sure.” Cyborg pat Beast Boy’s abs. “Hey... let’s keep this to ourselves for a while, yeah? I’m still figuring parts of me out.” 

“Of course Cy. My lips are sealed. And-“ Gar squirmed and struggled up to his knees to lean up and give his friend one more kiss on the lips. “I can help you figure some of it out... no strings attached.”

“Hehe... bet you’d like that.”

“You know I would. But for now~” Gar flopped, shifting into the form of a Labrador, sighing contently across Cyborg’s lap. “That extra run Tim made us do is catching up with me, and I wanna nap.” 

“Fair enough.” Cyborg closed his eyes and leaned back once more. He felt much more comfortable now. He wondered what he’d find out about himself with Gar’s help. He wondered how this will effect him and his relations with other people. Would this benefit his heroic life? Would it be a distraction? Was that really a bad thing? For now, it didn’t matter. For now, Cyborg decided to take things like his best friend Beast Boy. One step at a time, taking it as life gives it. “Love you B.” 

“You too bro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the final chapter for Green Machine. Gar and Cyborg have a long way to go with their relationship. It’s a bit more complicated than most. But now they’ve opened some doors, maybe they’ll be able to explore more together in the future!


End file.
